A Purse to Die For by Melodie Campbell, Cynthia St-Pierre

have to get a uniform to come guard her. He left to use his cellphone outside.
    When he returned, Becki was sitting in a chair by the wall, drinking out of a paper cup. Her eyes were anxious. " Did she say anything? "
    Rob sat down next to her. " She says she didn ' t see him. "
    " But that doesn ' t make sense, " Becki said.
    " I know. She has to be protecting someone. Don ' t know if it ' s just her attacker or the killer too . "
    Becki gasped. " You don ' t think they ' re the same person? "
    Linda and Jerry came rushing down the hall.
    Linda was out of breath. She looked like she was ready to host an evening cocktail party in that get-up. Mutton dressed as lamb, Rob thought again.
    " I ' ve ordered roses, " Linda said with satisfaction. " Pink ones. They didn ' t have yellow. "
    Rob looked at her as if she ' d spoken in Swahili. What the hell had roses to do with anything?
    " Ian ' s parking the car. How is she? " Jerry asked.
    " Pretty beat up, " Becki said. " But they think she ' ll be all right , as long as there ' s no internal damage. She ' s going for X-rays or MRIs—whatever they do now. "
    " That bastard Reggie. " Linda almost spit the words.
    " You think Reggie did this? "
    " Of course, he did. He ' s the wife-beater type. Good-looking, thinks a lot of himself and a total failure at everything he tries. So he takes it out on someone weaker. Believe me, I know the type. "
    Everyone looked at Jerry.
    " No, no! I don ' t mean like Jerry. Don ' t be ridiculous. I just know. From before…in my childhood. "
    Everyone stared at her. She shifted nervously from foot to high-heeled foot. " What are you looking at? "
    " Do you know this for sure or are you just surmising? Has Carla said anything to you? "
    Linda shook her head.
    " Has she said anything to anyone else? "
    Both Becki and Jerry shook their heads.
    " Do we know this has happened before? Have any of you seen any signs of bruising on Carla that might be indicative? "
    Linda and Jerry shook their heads this time. Becki did not, Rob noted. He looked right at her and crossed his arms.
    " I ' m not sure, " Becki said carefully. " There are times I ' ve thought it odd—the things she ' d wear. Turtlenecks when it was too hot and long sleeves. She didn ' t wear her favourite dinner dress once when she had the chance and I couldn ' t figure out why. The excuse she made was nonsense. And once I saw these marks on her upper arms that looked like thumbprints. She said she ' d hit the wall funny, but you don ' t get marks on both sides by doing that. "
    " Just like I said. " Linda was triumphant.
    Rob sat, thinking. It looked like a simple case of wife-beating…what a terrible way to put it. Simple made it sound ordinary or banal, when, as a man, he thought this was one of the most despicable things another man could do. What a terrible world we live in, Rob thought bitterly.
    " Reggie is a bastard. I bet he killed the other woman too . Probably having an affair with her, the son-of-a-bitch. " Linda was on a soapbox.
    " He was having an affair with someone. I don ' t know if it was her, " Jerry said. " Ian saw him at the motel with a woman. "
    There was a sharp intake of breath from Linda. " What hotel? "
    " The one on the edge of town, the Green Hills something. "
    " Why didn ' t you tell me? Why didn ' t Ian? "
    Jerry just shrugged.
    " Did you know about this? " Linda turned to Rob. She sounded personally outraged.
    Rob nodded. " Ian told me. We ' re checking it out. "
    All this time, Becki had been quiet. She spoke up now. " You can ' t be sure Reggie killed that other woman. "
    " What do you mean? " Rob asked
    " I know what you mean, " Jerry said. " If he was the killer, he wouldn ' t have used a bat. Reggie would have used his bare hands. "
     
    Ian had not told the police everything. Yes, he had confessed to Dumont about seeing a woman with Reggie, but he neglected mentioning the woman was familiar. That would have been the right thing to do, of course, but Ian had